[kgs]

Williams sells both items. I can buy either one, but are they basically the same design? What would the $50 more for the BeerGun get me?

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/Blichmann-Engineering-Beergun-P1590.aspx

https://www.williamsbrewing.com/KegLand-Bottle-Filler-P4775.aspx

[Kevin]

I bought one of these to add to my keezer collar. It seemed a much more elegant solution than wrangling with hoses. The product price is $95.00 US dollars but it cost me $130 once shipping was added. The company that makes it is in Russia so expect about 3 to 4 weeks for delivery.

http://boel.company/product/itap-crown-cap/

[joe_meadmaker]

I can't speak about the specific bottle fillers you linked, but this is the one I have.
https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/the-last-straw-bottle-filler

It works well enough, but one thing you might want to consider is something with a counter-pressure option.  I definitely wish I had that.  There is an add-on piece for the Last Straw to handle counter-pressure, but reviews seem to be mixed so I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

@Kevin - I would definitely like to hear how that device works for you've had a chance to use it.

[kgs]

I can't speak about the specific bottle fillers you linked, but this is the one I have.
https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/the-last-straw-bottle-filler

It works well enough, but one thing you might want to consider is something with a counter-pressure option.  I definitely wish I had that.  There is an add-on piece for the Last Straw to handle counter-pressure, but reviews seem to be mixed so I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

@Kevin - I would definitely like to hear how that device works for you've had a chance to use it.

Thanks. Is there a reason you recommend a device with a counter-pressure option?

[joe_meadmaker]

Thanks. Is there a reason you recommend a device with a counter-pressure option?

A couple things.  One is just to keep things a little cleaner during the bottling process.  Despite keeping everything cold, I always have a bit of foaming.  So each bottle has a little foam overflow right before it's capped.  But after bottling a case or two, this gets to be quite a mess.  I usually put the bottle being filled in a pan to catch all the foam.  The second thing is to try to preserve the carbonation in the beer.  When I'm planning to bottle a batch, I always take the carbonation level a little higher than normal because some will unavoidably be lost during bottling.  I've seen demonstration videos where someone is able to use a bottling wand without the beer foaming at all, but I've never been able to get mine tuned in that well.  A bottling wand that includes a counter-pressure option should minimize if not completely remove both of these issues.

All that being said, you might be able to go through bottling with no foaming issues.

[charlie]

I bought a Blickmann Beer Gun back in the dawn of time, and I like it. I can't speak to the Kegland product one way or another. But here's a funny thing:

The Kegland product looks exactly like my Beer Gun! If I saw one at a friend's house I would assume that it was a Beer Gun. The current issue Beer Gun is quite a bit more refined than mine, chiefly by virtue of the solid grip as opposed to the skeleton grip on mine.

If I had to guess I would say that the two products are functionally identical.

Charlie

[Robert]

The Kegland product looks exactly like my Beer Gun! 
...
If I had to guess I would say that the two products are functionally identical.

I'm getting the idea that Kegland has a habit of taking other people's products and having them knocked off in China.  But wait, I'm not done yet!  Not necessarily inferior knockoffs.  For instance, their grain mill is reportedly a copy of the Monster Mill, but it has actual, proper bearings, unlike the bushings used in the original, yet at a lower price.  So it's entirely possible that the Kegland filler is copied from the Blichmann.  Whether they've changed it at all, for better or worse, I wouldn't know.

[goose]

[/quote]

 The second thing is to try to preserve the carbonation in the beer.  When I'm planning to bottle a batch, I always take the carbonation level a little higher than normal because some will unavoidably be lost during bottling. 
[/quote]

^^^^ This.  I always turn the pressure up a bit on my kegs the night before bottling for a competition to try to preserve the carbonation level and I bottle with a Beer Gun because to me it less of a PITA than a counter pressure filler.  Yes, I get a bit more foaming but I can control that by bleeding some pressure off the keg during bottling.  Yeah, it seems a bit counter productive, but it works for me and the carbonation level stays about right in the bottles

[BrewBama]

The Kegland product looks exactly like my Beer Gun! 
...
If I had to guess I would say that the two products are functionally identical.

I'm getting the idea that Kegland has a habit of taking other people's products and having them knocked off in China.

There’s a whole kettle full of drama in Australia between Kegland and Keg King for that very thing across a range of products. There was a pretty contentious split between owners that spilled into the courts.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kgs]

 The second thing is to try to preserve the carbonation in the beer.  When I'm planning to bottle a batch, I always take the carbonation level a little higher than normal because some will unavoidably be lost during bottling. 
[/quote]

^^^^ This.  I always turn the pressure up a bit on my kegs the night before bottling for a competition to try to preserve the carbonation level and I bottle with a Beer Gun because to me it less of a PITA than a counter pressure filler.  Yes, I get a bit more foaming but I can control that by bleeding some pressure off the keg during bottling.  Yeah, it seems a bit counter productive, but it works for me and the carbonation level stays about right in the bottles
[/quote]

That's interesting, because instructions for the Beer Gun and similar products all say to lower the PSI by half before bottling. "Set CO2
regulator to ½ of the normal dispensing pressure (approximately 6 psi) and open the pressure relief valve to reduce keg pressure to new setting." I think I'll start there because my maiden voyage will be with cider, not beer, and cider tastes good across most carbonation levels, in my experience. But I will keep sanitized bottles in the freezer compartment of my beer fridge and try it the other way, too.

I'm not quite understanding how you hold the beer bottle and the Beer Gun while you bleed pressure off the keg - I only have two arms. But maybe Kegland sells knock-off arms!

[Kevin]

That's interesting, because instructions for the Beer Gun and similar products all say to lower the PSI by half before bottling. "Set CO2
regulator to ½ of the normal dispensing pressure (approximately 6 psi) and open the pressure relief valve to reduce keg pressure to new setting." I think I'll start there because my maiden voyage will be with cider, not beer, and cider tastes good across most carbonation levels, in my experience. But I will keep sanitized bottles in the freezer compartment of my beer fridge and try it the other way, too.

I'm not quite understanding how you hold the beer bottle and the Beer Gun while you bleed pressure off the keg - I only have two arms. But maybe Kegland sells knock-off arms!

The instructions are saying to turn the pressure down at bottling time. Goose is saying the night before bottling he turns the pressure up on the keg the night before to increase the carbonation a bit.

You don't have to open the pressure relief while bottling... you do it just before you start. So the steps would be (according to the instructions you have): 1. turn pressure down to half of serving pressure. 2. open the pressure relief on your keg. (I would do it just for a moment and then close it). 3. bottle with your filler.

[kgs]

That's interesting, because instructions for the Beer Gun and similar products all say to lower the PSI by half before bottling. "Set CO2
regulator to ½ of the normal dispensing pressure (approximately 6 psi) and open the pressure relief valve to reduce keg pressure to new setting." I think I'll start there because my maiden voyage will be with cider, not beer, and cider tastes good across most carbonation levels, in my experience. But I will keep sanitized bottles in the freezer compartment of my beer fridge and try it the other way, too.

I'm not quite understanding how you hold the beer bottle and the Beer Gun while you bleed pressure off the keg - I only have two arms. But maybe Kegland sells knock-off arms!

The instructions are saying to turn the pressure down at bottling time. Goose is saying the night before bottling he turns the pressure up on the keg the night before to increase the carbonation a bit.

You don't have to open the pressure relief while bottling... you do it just before you start. So the steps would be (according to the instructions you have): 1. turn pressure down to half of serving pressure. 2. open the pressure relief on your keg. (I would do it just for a moment and then close it). 3. bottle with your filler.

Ah ok, thank you for the clarification.